


Little Buddy

by Red_Tigress



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:18:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5568859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Tigress/pseuds/Red_Tigress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe Dameron and BB-8's first adventure together was an actual disaster. But they each got an incredible friend out of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Buddy

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeeeeeeeeeeey new fandom! Just wanted to do a story about maybe how Poe and BB-8 became such good friends, cause it's clear Poe loves BB-8 so much. But who doesn't, really?

The X-Wing rattled alarmingly around him as Poe struggled to hold it steady. Above him was darkness. Below, more of the same as he fell towards the planet’s dark side. 

He knew he wasn’t going to be able to fly out of here. The trap had been a good one; he hadn’t known the First Order was there until the astromech droid had screamed an alarm from the back of the cockpit and he felt the first barrage of missile fire clip his wings.

Speaking of the droid, it was trying to take control of the ship now. “Stop, damn it!” Poe told the infuriating thing. Maybe it had protocol programmed in to try and save its companions, but Poe had no tolerance for that. He didn’t trust the various pieces of A.I. scattered around the base, and he certainly didn’t trust this one with his life in its clutches. 

The X-Wing bucked forward again, harshly. Poe’s helmeted head bumped the console briefly, but he was still in control. Mostly. The droid tried to take over. “Damn it, I said I had it, you kriffin’ piece-”

Anything else Poe said was cut off as the X-Wing fell, its sublight engines terrifyingly silent. Poe rocketed forwards again, smashing his chin on the console.

He thought he heard the droid scream again. 

 

Poe came to slowly. A muffled quietness surrounded him. No alarms, no thrum of machinery...it almost reminded him of Yavin. A warm feeling settled over him briefly before his body gave a shiver. As soon as he did, pain, sharp and hot, pulsed through his body from someplace near his shoulder. His eyes opened and he lurched forward, feeling suddenly hot and nauseous at once. Breathing deeply through his nose, he blinked to try and clear some of the dizziness from his vision. 

Any feelings of warmth he had had fled, leaving him cold and shaking in a dead cockpit. Outside was dark, but he thought he could see stars through dense foliage above him. 

He leaned forward and pain shot through him again. His right hand automatically reached up towards his left shoulder. Gingerly, he touched his collarbone and had to swallow thickly when he felt it move under his fingers. The touch was accompanied by another wave of pain that forced him to lean back and close his eyes.

“Not good,” he whispered painfully. “Definitely not alright.”

There was a sudden, high-pitched whine from behind him that he could only describe as the droid equivalent of a scream of alarm. He flinched hard, and then gasped for breath as his stomach rolled again.

“Please,” he whispered. “Be quiet.”

There was a small chirp of apology.

Poe closed his eyes again and leaned back. “Have you made contact with the Resistance?”

Another small, disappointed chirp, followed by an explanation.

Poe winced. He wasn’t surprised the communications had been damaged in the crash.

“Anything not damaged?”

The droid gave a few hesitant chirps which Poe understood to mean that all the systems it could control were damaged or down. There might have been some other salvageable parts of the ship, but the droid couldn’t get to them from where it was.

Poe bit back a sarcastic comment and reached upwards with his good arm. The movement pulled on his collarbone, making the pain radiate outwards again.He unlatched the mechanical release of the cockpit, pushing upwards on the windshield. There was a hiss of hydraulics, and suddenly the hot, humid atmosphere of forest surrounded him. He took in a few more deep breaths, finding it didn’t really help with his nausea as much as he thought it would.

“What’s this planet called again?” he panted as he pulled himself onto the rim of the cockpit. He swung his legs over the side, feeling for purchase with his toes. The droid beeped something at him. “Arorua?” The droid beeped again, then gave a few warning chirps as Poe’s foot slipped. He fell the last few feet to the ground. He landed on his feet, but the impact sent a hard jolt through his body, inadvertently jostling his shoulder. 

The droid gave a few worried coos as Poe moved slowly over to the back of the crashed X-Wing. He winced as his eyes took in the charred plating and the sparking engine. One of the S-Foils was bent in such a way that it was pointed almost 180 degrees in the other direction.

It was a miracle he’d survived.

Blinking with a sudden realization, he looked at the droid who rotated its head to look back with a soft whirr. “Did you...land this?”

The droid beeped affirmative.

A feeling of guilt clenched Poe’s gut from a question he didn’t even think to ask the droid. “Are you damaged?”

The droid whistled that it wasn’t, but that it was stuck and it would need help getting out. 

“Wow, I’m sorry, I didn’t…” he trailed off as he kneeled under the body of the X-Wing. The ship had crashed onto a thick tree trunk so there was still about two feet of clearance between the body and the ground. Plenty of room for the BB unit. He reached his hand under the ship, gritting his teeth as he felt around for the mechanical release of the astromech door. His fingers found the latch and he gave it a tug. It didn’t budge. He tried again, jiggling the handle a little to try and get it to move. Still nothing. 

“Hang on.” Poe moved back towards the cockpit. He reached up with his good hand and latched onto the ledge. From there, he slowly and painfully pulled himself upwards. He soon caught sight of what he needed. With his other hand, he reached into the cockpit, the movement making him clench his teeth and grunt harshly. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead as his fingers wrapped around the canvas tool kit nestled behind his seat. 

He dropped back to the ground with the toolkit in hand. He took a few deep breaths as he walked back over to where the droid was trapped. He dropped the toolbag on the ground and rooted around until he found a heavy wrench. “Have you out in a sec,” he said. 

He couldn’t stop himself from giving a reassuring smile to the droid. 

The droid happily chirped back.

Poe reached back and then swung the wrench into the mechanism holding the latch shut. It wasn’t exactly his greatest feat of engineering; but he could feel the force of the impacts, and hear the increased rattle of the loosening bolt after every hit. With a growl, he swung once more.

He jumped backwards as the latch flew open. There was a metallic clunk as the 40-pound ball of metal hit the forest floor with a squeal of joy. Poe was taking deep breaths again from where he was sitting on the ground, but he couldn’t stop the chuckle that burst forth from his lips as the droid excitedly rolled in a circle around him. “You’re welcome...BB-8.”

BB-8 paused, then shifted tentatively from side-to-side in an apprehensive, but hopeful gesture. It gave a soft beep.

Poe sighed. “What’s next?” He shifted his hand through his hair. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “Well...our mission is to gather intel on the First Order base. I suppose we can also radio for help from there. If we find it.”

BB-8 rolled in a small circle excitedly and whistled. 

Poe smiled again. “You’re gonna help me?”

The droid whistled an affirmative. 

“Sounds good, little buddy. Salvage what you can, we’ll move out soon.”

 

With BB-8’s help, Poe had managed to salvage a pack worth of emergency rations, water, tools, and two blasters. He had to carry it on one shoulder, as his broken bone was still causing him pain. Between that and his head (and BB-8’s limited mobility over underbrush), the going was slower than he would have liked.

The sun was just beginning to rise, when Poe caught the sight of distant radio towers. “Think that’s it?” he asked his companion. 

In response, the droid rolled in front of him and turned its head up. It chirped as a blue hologram flickered to life. It showed the planet, rotating slowly. Poe recognized the area in the Eastern hemisphere where their intelligence believed the base was located. 

“And where are we?” An area became highlighted in green and enlarged near the red zone. BB-8 chirped a caveat that its navigation had become disoriented during the crash, so it wasn’t 100% accurate.

“Not your fault. You’ve already done more than enough buddy.” Poe stifled a smile at the droid’s small bubbly noise of content. 

It was answered by Poe’s stomach which growled loudly. The pilot gave an embarrassed shrug. “Guess we better take a break.” Poe sank down onto a fallen tree and tossed his pack on the ground. He began to dig through it, searching for one of the protein bars that had been part of his emergency rations. “Hmm, dirt or paste-flavor?” he wondered out loud. 

BB-8 made a curious sound, not quite understanding the joke.

“Be glad you don’t have to eat these,” Poe said as he ripped open the package of one. BB-8 made a sound that sounded curiously like ayup! and rolled a short distance away, presumably to explore. Poe was content to let it. Afterall, the small droid had shown good judgement so far. Poe would never have thought that he’d be enjoying a droid’s company, of all things.

He chewed slowly on his protein bar, considering the tower in the distance. At least he had that much. An enemy base and a location. But the mission needed numbers. The Resistance was incredibly dependent on any and all information anyone could glean about the First Order’s movements. Numbers would tell him things like how long they were planning to stay here, how important the system was, and if it would eventually become a stop on a resupply line. 

He was hopeful because there hadn’t been any signs of pursuit. In the First Order’s supreme cockiness, they hadn’t even thought to double-check the crash site. Just assumed that the Resistance and their inferior technology had been brought low by their superiority. 

Poe snorted sarcastically.

He heard a rustling and turned his head to see BB-8 roll over to some bushes. Its head was tipped forward in curiosity and it beeped a question.

“What did you find, little buddy?”

BB-8 turned its head towards him, then back towards the bushes. Poe stood up to get a better look.

There was something pale and face-like in the bush. 

Poe stared in confusion, his muddled, tired brain not comprehending the dark red object that shifted underneath the face.

BB-8 leaned in closer.

A story long-forgotten of an unsuspecting padawan crossed Poe’s mind and in that instant cold fear gripped him. He forced his lips to move as he fumbled with his blaster. “BB-8, get away from there!”

The droid turned its head towards him again, but the trap was sprung. The face lunged forward and it wasn’t a face at all. It was a mask, something attached to a giant, long insectoid creature which had an actual face that was far more terrifying than its false one. Foot-long mandible snapped and BB-8 screamed in panic and fear as he was snatched into the air.

The squollyhawk rose with the droid seven feet into the air on its hind legs, but the round, metal droid was slipping from its grasp. Poe fired a blast at its underside which made it contort and hiss in pain. It dropped the droid and turned its attention to Poe.

Poe’s eyes widened in terror as it lunged towards him. Its mandibles snapped audibly and Poe stumbled backwards over the tree he had just been sitting on. He gasped when the pain washed through him, but the fall had saved his neck. The squollyhawk’s jaws snapped through air. 

BB-8 zoomed towards the beast with an angry scream and one of its side compartments opened. Poe saw the bright blue of a small electric charge and the beast howled in pain. It twisted sharply and swung its tail. Poe shouted in anger as BB-8 went flying into the trees. He fired his blaster again and scrambled backwards, but the beast was quick. It dodged low and dove for the prone pilot’s leg.

Poe screamed in pain as he felt a thick mandible punch through his calf. With his free foot, he kicked the thing in the face before he smashed the butt of his blaster straight down onto the thick, red appendage. Pain shot up his leg, forcing him to choke back another scream, but the damage was done. The mandible snapped in half and the beast let out an utterly terrifying roar. It writhed and flailed, skittering backwards from Poe who was breathing hard and shaking. He fumbled with his blaster, but the monster was already retreating back into the woods.

As the sounds of hissing and tree limbs snapping faded, Poe breathed a sigh of relief and leaned forward. “BB-8?” he called. His voice sounded weak and shaky. He took a deep breath, and tried again. “BB-8?”

He heard the droid’s worried chirping distantly, and gave a weak smile. A moment later, the droid burst through the undergrowth and zoomed up to him. Its head was spinning wildly, and there was a slight dent in its side, but other than that the little droid seemed unharmed. 

“Calm down, buddy, it’s gone,” Poe assured it. “But I’m going to need your help.”

BB-8 made a soft coo, and followed Poe’s eyes to his leg. When the droid caught sight of the piece of insect jaw still sticking out of him, it chattered out a worried series of beeps and whistles. 

“You don’t have like...a saw in you or anything, do you?”

BB-8 gave an apologetic and ashamed-sounding coo as it dipped its head.

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” Poe found himself hurrying to assure the droid. He gave it an awkward pat on its side. “Do you think though...you could push my bag over to me?”

BB-8’s head shot up and it rolled towards the bag. One of its side ports opened again and a small cable shot out. BB-8 gripped the bag and awkwardly rolled back towards Poe without rolling over its cable. When it got back to the pilot, it retracted its cable, dragging the bag through the dirt to poe.

“Thanks buddy,” Poe breathed as he reached forward. Blood had now soaked through his pant leg, and his calf was starting to go numb. He rooted around in the bag quickly, until he found a pair of pliers. He sat up again and place the plier tips on the mandible. 

BB-8 gave a series of worried beeps. 

Poe glanced sideways at the droid. “If uh, I pass out, just...stop the bleeding, okay?”

BB-8 shook slightly with the force of its next series of sounds.

“It’ll be okay,” Poe smiled back at the droid, which seemed to calm it slightly. 

Then he pulled.

It was agony. 

Cold sweat ran down his face and his back, and the pain of pulling a sharp stick-like thing out of his leg was enough to make him forget temporarily about the broken bone grinding together near his shoulder. His body was on fire but simultaneously trembling with cold that was paralyzing his ability to breath. 

But the mandible was sliding out.

With a last, desperate shout, he pulled the mandible loose and dropped it on the ground. He grabbed the field dressing he had also laid out, and quickly wrapped it around his leg. His hands were shaking more than he would have liked to admit. He quickly tied off the bandage as all his energy left him suddenly.

Poe collapsed onto his back, his leg thrumming in time to his heart. It felt fast and thready, and already he could feel more blood beginning to pool on the ground around the spot. 

BB-8s head floated into his field of vision, the droid making soft, sad sounds.

“It’ll be fine...just...catching my breath,” Poe said closing his eyes. A moment later, his fingers felt the cold touch of metal. Then his wrist, and arm. BB-8 was slowly rolling into his side, where it bumped against his ribcage softly. Poe wrapped his arm around BB-8’s base, and drifted for a while.

 

It was the coldness that woke Poe up again. His flight suit did a decent job of insulating him, but the sweat and tremors from his injuries were insistant enough to drag him out of a fitful sleep.

He shouldn’t be falling asleep in a strange forest anyway. But as BB-8’s head swiveled to look down at him, he knew he had done right in trusting the little astromech. 

He glanced at the sun. He had only been asleep for a few hours, so they still had quite a few hours of daylight ahead of them. Poe groaned, sitting up to examine his leg. A piercing pain also shot through his shoulder and he leaned forward, stifling yet another groan. 

His leg didn’t look too bad considering. The bandage was only showing slight signs of bleeding through, and the pain had been reduced to something that pulsed with his heartbeat. He could walk on that. 

He hoped.

He got slowly to his feet, taking his pack with him. BB-8 touched his good leg in silent support as he did. 

“Thanks, little buddy,” he breathed. “Not far now.”

BB-8 rolled ahead, scouting a path for the limping Poe. Poe picked up a fallen branch which he began to lean on, following BB-8’s determined chirps of direction. BB-8 would continually roll back to check on Poe, who gave it a reassuring smile. It would then beep out a series of satisfied notes and move forwards again. 

As they got closer to the base, they moved more carefully. Occasionally they spotted forest scouts, eerily quiet except when a static burst from one of their radios flared to life. BB-8 almost rolled into one from behind, and they had both had to scramble behind a tree to avoid being seen. 

The base finally came into view. Poe lay on the ground next to BB-8, scrambling in his bag again for his macrobinoculars. There were a number of trooper transportation shuttles on the far side; something he’d be easily able to pilot. He studied the patrols entering and exiting the base as BB-8 waited silently next to him. The droid seemed to understand the concept of stealth well. It hadn’t made one peep since they started sneaking around in earnest. 

When Poe felt confident enough he understood the patrol’s rotation, he got to his knees. “Listen up, BB-8,” he said as he discarded his crutch. The droid attentatively turned its head towards him. “We’re going to make a break for it in a minute. Once we’re inside, I’ll need you to keep watch, alright?”

The droid gave a soft chirp.

Poe leaned down to rub its head. “Atta droid,” he whispered. 

In response, BB-8 gave a series of soft, but delighted beeps. 

Poe moved forward and leaned around a tree. Seeing as the coast was clear, he quickly limped forward across the open space. BB-8 rolled along at his feet, head constantly swiveling to check their flanks. They made it across the clearing, and Poe nearly dove into the open bay door the base.

“What-”

The mechanical voice of the woman in the forest trooper outfit was cut off as BB-8 rolled furiously into her shins. The move was enough to put her off balance and she collapsed backwards. Poe finished her off with a laser blast. 

“Thanks little buddy,” he panted. BB-8 chirped and rolled around a console to look for more scout troopers. 

Poe hobbled over to the console, rapidly typing in command prompts. He scrolled down through the information, but none of it was helpful to his cause. At that moment, BB-8 rolled back over to him, and beeped in rapid succession. 

“More? How many?” Poe asked.

BB-8 gave an alarmed wail.

Poe grimaced. From what he could tell, there was a secure computer down the hall that wasn’t connected to the intranet. That had the base’s mission and ship manifests on it. That was what he would need to bring back to the Resistance. But he wasn’t sure if he could take on six stormtroopers in this state.

BB-8 wailed again, and then started nudging on his leg to get him to move to the shuttles. 

“I can’t go yet,” Poe growled. He got to his feet, and moved over to the dead scout. He took her blaster, plus the one grenade she had on her belt. That might be enough. 

BB-8 rolled between him and the hallway door. The droid shook with every beep, determined to be listened to. 

“You can help, or you get can out of the way!” Poe was suddenly angry, but the droid was having none of it. It rolled right into Poe’s shins, beeping out a series of suggestions and then a question.

“You don’t get it! The Resistance is more important than my life!”

The droid rolled back slowly in sudden silence.

“If I can’t complete every mission I’m sent on, then this is all for nothing. The work my parents did, what they died for, was for nothing!”

Poe was breathing harshly, and had to lean against a wall for support. He could hear the footsteps of the stormtroopers now.

BB-8 was silent for a moment, before it rolled forward and gave a reassuring coo.

Poe angrily wiped at his eyes. “Thanks, little buddy,” he whispered. “Now,” he pulled the grenade from his belt and popped the pin. “Stand back.”

He threw the grenade into the hallway where he heard a metallic ping. There was a mad scramble and a shout of “DOWN!” before an explosion rocked the base. Poe’s moment of triumph was short-lived as blaster fire erupted from the hallway a moment later. He dove behind one of the consoles, sparks erupting from where he had been standing just a moment before. 

BB-8 gave a shrill cry and rolled forward. Poe peeked around the edge of the console just in time to see a trooper aim his blaster at the little droid. He saw the red of the laser blast hit the side of the droid’s head, making it rock back as it gave a squeal like none Poe had ever heard before. 

It sounded like pain.

The next thing Poe knew, he was charging from cover straight at the stormtrooper who had fired on BB-8. He tackled him to the ground and ignored the pain that crippled his shoulder. Poe angrily ripped off the trooper’s helmet and punched him in the face.

Hands grabbed his shoulders and he cried out again, but BB-8 had recovered. The droid shocked one of the troopers holding him in the leg, making her cry out and let go. Poe turned and with his free arm, grabbed his blaster. He aimed it at the trooper’s chest that was still holding him and fired, sending him careening through the air and into another console. The trooper that had been shocked by BB-8 gave it a savage kick, but Poe was ready for her this time. He aimed his blaster at her chest and fired again. She collapsed with a yell. 

BB-8 rolled over to where Poe was kneeling on the ground. He was sweating again, and his vision was tilting slowly and dangerously from side to side. He reached out his hand to touch BB-8. There was a new black singe across its head, and a slight hole where Poe could see some wires sparking inside. “Don’t worry,” he breathed. “We’ll get you home and repaired soon.”

The droid gave a tired-sounding beep and rolled into Poe. 

“Just one more thing.”

He got up, making his way down the hallway. Every few steps, he had to lean heavily against the wall to catch his breath and regain his equilibrium. BB-8 rolled slowly behind him.

He made it to the computer room and heavily fell into a chair. “Okay buddy, one more time, I need you.” He unplugged one of the wires from the computer and fed it down to the droid. “Think you can get what we need?”

BB-8 chirped and opened one of its ports. Poe plugged in the wire to the offered port, and there was a whirring as BB-8 began to collect the information. It only took about a minute for BB-8 to beep it was done and Poe unplugged it. 

“Alright buddy,” he smiled. “Mission accomplished.”

 

After that, the escape was more successful. They commandeered a transport shuttle and with BB-8’s newly acquired security codes, they avoided detection from the Star Destroyer in low orbit. After that it was a hyperspace jump away from the base. 

Poe didn’t remember much after that. He did wake up in a bed a few days later and was surprised to find not only BB-8, but General Organa at his side. 

Upon seeing him open his eyes, the droid started chattering loudly, rocking from side to side.

Poe tried to reach out a hand, but then realized it was bound to his chest in a sling. He turned slightly to reach out his other one to touch BB-8’s head. The droid rumbled happily under his touch. “They repaired you, huh little buddy?”

General Organa gave him a wry smile from her chair. “You were quite insistent,” she said. 

Poe squinted up at her. “I was?”

“Yes. In fact, you wouldn’t let us have access to the First Order files until he was repaired. After that, you gave him permission to share, and then promptly passed out on the floor.”

Poe felt heat creeping into his cheeks. “Oh. Uh...sorry, General.”

She waved a hand. “No apology necessary. I quite understand bonds that can be formed with droids. And it seems like you two went through a lot.”

Poe grinned. “Yeah...I guess we did.”

She sighed. “Well, I can’t say I’m not a bit miffed my best astromech insists on only following your orders, but I’d rather have him looking out for you if you insist on being so callous with your life.”

The droid beeped in agreement. 

Poe could feel his cheeks heating again. “Uh, yes, General. Thank you, General.”

BB-8 gave a joyful squeal and tried to roll closer to Poe, who laughed and patted his head. 

General Organa stood up. “The information you’ve gathered has been invaluable, Dameron. But please, for the future, remember it’s not worth your life.”

“With all due respect, General, I disagree.”

General Organa sighed sadly, and in that moment Poe thought she looked...lost.

It was terrifying.

“...General?”

The moment was gone, and her wry smile was back in place. “Take care of yourself. I hate having to train new pilots.”

“Yes, General,” Poe said sternly. As she turned away, he smiled and pressed his forehead against BB-8, who chirped happily. “Thanks, little buddy,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t mind having you on my team again. Whaddya say?”

His heart swelled with warmth at the droid’s response.

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun to write. Hit me up on tumblr at "redtigress".


End file.
